Receptacle closure



L. R. N. CARVALHO.

RECEPTACLE CLOSURE.

APPLICATION FILED MAH. I9, 1920.

Patent-ed Apr. 18, 1922.

/Q ff afg UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.

RECEPTACLE CLOS'URE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 18, 1.922.

Application filed March 19, 1.920. Serial No. 367,061.

To allwhom it may concern Be it known that I, LESLIE R. N. C'AR- vALHo, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Receptacle Closures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a receptacle closure, the same embodying certain features of, and being an improvement over, the structure shown and describedin my patent application, Serial No. 300,462, May 28, 1919.

An object of the present improvement is` to provide eicient means for providing an air tight closure between the cap and the receptacle.

A further object is to provide a cap which is especially yeffective in retaining a vacuum withln the receptacle.

A further object is to accomplish the above purposes while at the same time maintaining the cap easy to apply, and effective in holding itself on to the receptacle.

A further object is to provide a closure as above which may be repeatedly used after its initial use and one which will be equally effective as a seal for receptacles of varying slzes.

A further object is to provide a cap so constructed that in being applied to a receptacle metallic portions of the cap will be bent to at once increase the mechanical grip of the cap upon the receptacle and squeeze portions of the sealing element of the cap into tighter and more intimate contact with the receptacle.

A further object is to provide a cap which, when applied to a receptacle, will cooperate therewith to provide converging wall portions between the cap and the receptacle so disposed that portions of the sealing element will be drawn into effective sealing relation between the converging portions of these walls under the influence of vacuum within the receptacle.

A further object is to provide a closure having the above characteristics and which at the same time may be readily removed whenever desired.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific than those referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in the course of the following description of elements, combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principles, constituting the invention, and the Scope of protection contemplated will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as a partV of this specification, and in which I ha've shown merely a preferred form of embodiment of the invention Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of a receptacle illustrating a closure applied thereto constructed in accordance with this invention, a portion of the view being broken away and shown in vertical section.

Figure 2 is a similar View of the closure member detached and illustrating the conditionof the parts prior to application to the receptacle, and

Figure 3 is a further similar view of the closure alone and illustrating the condition of the closure at one time during the operation of forming the closure.

Referring to the drawings for describing in detail the structure which is illustrated therein, the reference character L indicates the receptacle, and the reference character G indicates the closure. The receptacle may be of any desired character but in the instance illustrated consists simply of an ordinary jelly tumbler. The upper annular edge surface, as l, of the receptacle is preferably rounded somewhat about as indicated for facilitating the application of the closure thereover. The outer -circumferential surface, as 2, of the receptacle for engagement by the closure is preferably smooth and may, if desired, be tapered downwardly a very fslight degree.

The closure consists of a single piece of sheet metal shaped to provide what may be termed a body portion 3 and an annular marginal bead portion 4. The body portion 3 is adapted to extend over the upper end of the receptacle, and the Bead 4 comprises means for receiving and gripping the walls ofthe receptacle. v

The bead 4 consists .of an inner approximately vertical wall 5, a top wall 6, an outer approximately vertical wall 7, and an inturned flange 8 formed at the lower edge of the wall 7 constituting in effect a wire edge internally of said wall 7 All of the walls constituting the bead 4extend continuously and uninterruptedly throughout the circumference of the closure'. The wall 5 of the bead is adapted to stand withinv the open end of the receptacle, and to lie adjacent the inner annular surface ofthe wall nfithe receptacle, as clearly7 indicated. i K

The wall 6 of the bead is adapted to overlie the upper annular edge of the receptacle.

The wall 7 of the bead is adapted to extend downwardly over the outer surface of the wall of the receptacle.

The flange 8 of the bead, which flange is shown in Fig. l of the drawings to be rounded in cross section, is adapted to constitute a resilient gripping member for frictionally engaging the outer surface of the wall of the receptacle. The degree of resiliency in this flange 8 is augmented somewhat by the character and relative position and size of said flange and the wall 7.

All of the Walls are carefully rounded into eachother so that the exterior of the closure throughout is attractive and unbroken. No parts are. present which could in any way in jure the hands of an operator attempting to attach or remove the closure. The only raw edge of metal present is that at the upper edge of the flange 8, as at 9, and this is in such a position that the operators hands cannot possible reach it. This edge is also so positioned that it is entirely outside the receptacle so that the contents of the receptacle have no'access to it.

For more efl'ectually sealing the connection between the closure and the receptacle, it is the purpose of this invention to provide a ring or gasket H of suitably resilient material, such as rubber composition, within the bead 4. Such a ring or gasket is indicated in Fig. 3 as the same appears in its normal condition. In the manufacture of these caps the ring, or gasket H is placed in position within the wall 7, vsubstantially as in Fig. 3, before said wall is turned to form the flange 8. ln turning the edge portion of the Wall 7 to form the flange 8, the gasket is forced further toward the wall 6 and is squeezed somewhat, substantially as indicated in the full line Fig. 2, so that an annular portion of the gasket,'as 10, is made to stand inside the vertical plane of the flange 8, said por- 'tion 10 being thus adapted to receive direct pressure from the receptacle when the cap is applied to the receptacle.

It will be apparent that while in this position; that is, after the flange 8 has been turned, the gasket positively held by the flange against accidental displacement. The relative location of all of the surrounding walls 5, 6 and 7 also serves to protect the gasket against likelihood of accidental displacement during any handling to which thelclosure may be subjected before being applied to the receptacle.

In use, the closure is simply forced dowii over the receptacle. The cooperative action which takes place at this time between the receptacle and the closure is graphically illustrated in Fig. 2 wherein it will be seen tacle.

that prior to the application of theyclosure y to the receptacle the flange 8 stands in its normal position slightly inside the plane of the outer surface of the wall of the receptacle, as shown by the dotted line representative of the wall of the receptacle in this view. When the closure is applied the flange 8 is sprung 4outwardly to the dotted lines position tov allow the receptacle to pas's. A very considerable pressure is thus stored in the flange, and this pressure continues to be exerted against the outer surface of the receiptzilcle as long as the closure remains app 1er.

As the closure is pressed further on to the receptacle so that the receptacle comes into contact with the portion l0 of the gasket, the gasket is compressed and made'to spread until it substantially fills. all of the open spaces Within the bead outside of the recep- It should be noted particularly that when the flange 8 was bent back a larger expanse of the portion l() of the gasket was brought into the path of movement of the receptacle, also that the available space between the flange 8 and the wall 7 Was reduced so that a portion, as l1, of the gasket material between said flange and Wall was forced upwardly to increase the extent of the portion 10 and to thus furnish ample gasket material for forming a very tight frictional engagement with the wall of the receptacle.

It is also to be noted that the space between the outer surface. of the receptacle and the inner surface of the walls 5, 6 and 7 is of ever decreasing dimensions upwardly and over the top of the receptacle so that when the closure has reached its final position upon the receptacle, substantially as in Fig. l, a comparatively slender fin, as l2, of the 105 gasket material stands in position in the angle formed between/the wall 5 and the in. wardly rounding surface of the wall of the receptacle. Any extent of vacuum Within the receptacle will, at this time, tend to draw 110 the fin 12 into the apex of this angle so that the greater the degree of vacuum present within the receptacle the stronger will be the pull upon the fin, and the tighter will the fin be drawn into engagement with the con- 115 verging walls, to resist any inward movement of air into the receptacle.

The arrangement of the gasket is such that when the closure is in position upon the receptacle the gasket has intimate engagement 120 with both the outer circumferential surface and the upper annular edge surface of the receptacle, being held tightly against these surfaces throughout by the converging disposition of the walls 7, 6 and 5 relative t0 125 said surfaces.

While this advantageous result is attained largely regardless of whether the closure member be fully pressed down on to the receptacle or not, yet it will be apparent that 130 a tight pressure of the closure on to the receptacle will somewhat increase the efllciency of the seal.

It will, of course, be understood that either or both surfaces of the material forming the closure member' may be coated with lacquer, or the like, or that if deslred a separately formed liner of paper or similar material may be employed within the cap such as 1s illustrated and described in connection with the copending application referred to.- Such a lacquer, or lining material, may, if de-l for instance with the back edge of a table 1 knife, or the like. The effect of the tapping will be to fla-tten out the flange 8 relatively against the inner surface of the wall 7 causing a set of the metal at the point where the flange 8 joins the wall 7 The resilient pressure of the flange against the receptacle will thus be relieved. The vacuum pressure within the receptacle must in most instances be relieved before the closure can be removed. Where this is necessary a small hole may be run through the body 3 o-f the closure.

It has been above mentioned that the flange 8 is resilient to accommodate the applica-tion of the closure to a receptacle and to maintain a frictional grip upon the receptacle.

This flange, being made of the same material as the wall 7, said wall 7 is also, therefore, resilient to a certain degree for improvingT the resilient character of the flange 8. That is, when a pressure is applied against the flange8, both the flange and the wall giveI way to a suitable extent for accommodating the receptacle. Also, it is to be noted that the resiliency of the wall 7 serves to a certain extent for augmenting the resilient engagement of the gasket against the surface of the receptacle.

The closure as described consists of three concentric annularwalls 5, 7 and 8, the wall, or flange 8 occupies the intermediate position between the walls 5 and 7 and is resilient so that it is capable of movement toward or away from each of said walls 5 and 7. It is directly supported by the wall 7 which is also resilient although to a less degree than the wall 8. The receptacle is held between the walls 5 and 8, and the wall 5, in addition to its function of affording a seal engaging the receptacle, serves as an abutment assisting the receptacle to resist the pressure of the wall 8. The gasket H is held between the walls 7 and 8 with its upper portion projecting into the space Ato be oc cupied by the receptacle, and the inner surface portion 'of the wall 8, which, it will be noticed, diverges downwardly and outwardl not konly facilitates the easy placing o the closure upon the receptacle, but also provides a hard metallic surface along which the recep-tacle moves before engaging the gasket. The wall 8 thus constitutes directing means for the receptacle so that the receptacle is first brought into engagement with the inner side surface, as 13, of the gasket rather than with the lower edge surface 14, and thus the entering movement of the receptacle is made smooth and of a uniform character at all times. That is to say, objectionable and non-uniform crowding of the gasket is entirely avoided,

As many changes could be made in this construction without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the folowing claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description, or shown 1n the accompanying drawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I cla-im as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A pre-formed receptacle closure comprising a body portion and a marginal portion, the marginal portion depending from the body portion adapted to overlie an exterior surface of the receptacle, a gasket-retalmng part comprised in said marginal portion, a gasket held by said gasket-retaining l part in position to engage the receptacle,and

said gasket-retaining ypart being movable and being disposed to be engaged by the receptacle and to be forced by suc-h engagement against said gasket to thereby squeeze said gasket into tighter engagement with the receptacle.

2. A pre-formed receptacle closure chi-nprising a body portion and a marginal portion, the marginal portion being curved downwardly to overlie an annular exterior surface of the receptacle and to define an upwardly converging annular space between the receptacle and said marginal portion, an inwardly spaced upwardly turned annular flange at the lower edge of said marginal port-ion constituting gasket-retaining mea-ns, a. gasket having its lower Iannular portion fitting into the space between said marginal portion and said flange and having its upper annular portion projecting above the upper edge of said flange in position to engage the receptacle, and said flange being bendable and being adap-ted to be bent by engagement with the receptacle to compress thereby squeeze the gasket upwardly into said converging space.

3. A pre-formed receptacle closure comprising a body portion and a marginal por-l tion, said marginal portion being bent to provide two cencentrically disposed walls spaced apart and in position to -overhe lthe outer annular surface of a receptacle which the closure may be a plied, one of said walls being movable and eing adapted by engagement with the receptacle to be moved toward. the other wall, and a gasket for sealing the receptacle said gasket having one annular portion o itself positioned for engaging the receptacle, and having another annular portion of itself positioned bet-Ween said two mentioned walls adapted upon movement of said movable wall to be compressed between said two walls to thereby squeeze ythe firstI portion of the gasket into tighter engagement with'the receptacle.

4c. A pre-formed receptacle closure comprising a body portion, a first annular marginal portion adapted to stand in engagement with the inner annular surface of a receptacle, a second annular marginal portion continuing outwardly from said first marginal portion adapted to overlie the upper annular edge of the receptacle, a third marginal portion continuing downwardly and outwardly from the second marginal portion to overlie the outer annular surface of the receptacle deining an upwardly converging annular space, anV inwardly and upwardly bent annular flange at the lower edge of said third marginal portion being spaced inwardly from said third marginal portion to engage the receptacle, a gasket having a. lower annular edge portion fitting into the space between said fiange and said third marginal portion .andv having an upper annular portion projecting above the upper edge of said flange to engage the receptacle, the inner annular surface of said fiange which engages said receptacle diverging downwardly and outwardly to constitute directing means for directing the receptacle into proper relation with said upper annular portion of the gasket while said iange at the same time retains and protects the lower annular portion of the gasket, said flange being bendable and being adapted to #be bent by engagement with the receptacle toward said third marginal portion to at once provide retaining engagement between itself and the receptacle and to compress the lower annular portion of the gasket so as to squeeze the gasket upwardly into said converging space, and

said first mentioned marginal,portion con-v stituting at once by its engagement with the inner annular surface of the receptacle means assisting the receptacle to resist pres-y sure of said flange and to close the apex of said converging space so as to thereby confine the gasket.

5. A pre-formed rceptacle closure comprising a body portion and a marginal portion formed upon the body portion arranged to overlie an exterior annular surface of a receptacle, said marginal portion comprising resilient part in position to engage the receptacle, and said resilient 'part being ar,

ranged to be pressed by the receptacle agamst said gasket to thereby force the gasket into more intimate engagement with the receptacle.

6. A pre-formed receptacle closure4 com- I prising a body portion having an annular;l marginal flange depending therefrom adapted to surround an annular exterior surface of a receptacle, an annular gasket positioned within said closure having lts outer peripheral surface fitting in contact with the inner surface of said iiange and having its inner peripheral surface positioned to be engaged by the receptacle., and said flange havmg a part extending therefrom to overliev a portion of the inner surface of said gasket to constitute directing means for directing the receptacle into proper relation with another portion ofthe inner surface of the gasket.

7. rIhe herein described method of form- I ing a receptacle closure, which consists in providing a body portion having a downwardly and outwardly flaring annular portion which is adapted to overlie -an outer annular surface of a receptacle, arranging an annular gasket within the upwardly converging space defined by said annular portion and in engagement with the inner surface of said marginal portion, bending inwardly and upwardly the lower annular edge of said marginal portion to form a flange overlying both the lunder and a portion of the inner annular surface of said terior surface of the receptacle, a gasket-retaining part curved in cross-section comprised in said marginal portion,a gasket held by said gasket-retaining part in position to engage the receptacle, and said gas, ket-retaining part bein movable and being disposed to be engaged y the receptaclel and to be forced by such engagement against said tighter engagement with the receptacle.

gasket to thereby squeeze said'gasket into 9. A preformed receptacle closure comprising a body portion and a marginal portion, a gasket carried by the marginal portion, sald gasket being arranged to be slid downwardly about the receptacle while maintaining tight frictional engagement with the receptacle, and means carried by said marginalportion operating to grip the lower annular edge portion of the gasket Vand to thereby pull the gasket downwardly about the receptacle when the closure is being applied.

10. A preformed receptacle closure comprising a body portion and a marginal portion, a gasket carried by the marginal portion, said gasket being arranged to be slid downwardly about the receptacle while maintaining tight frictional engagement with the receptacle, and said marginal portion comprising also apart arranged to slide downwardly about the. receptacle while maintaining tight rietional engagement with the receptacle, said last mentioned part being disposed so as to be bent by engagement with the receptacle and to be caused by said bending to grip the lower annular edge portion of the gasket and to thereby pull the gasket downward about the receptacle when the closure is being applied.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses. LESLIE R. N. C'ARVALHO.

Witnesses:

DAVID IIERsHFmm, L. GEssFoRD HANDY. 

